Now marking its 19th year, the Writers' Guild of Ireland Zebbie Awards celebrate the very best of Irish writing for the screen (big & small), the stage and radio/audio.

The Zebbies are different to any other awards, because they're exclusively about THE (HUMAN) WRITERS; the tenacious and talented scribes who fill blank page after blank page to create your must-watch TV series, unforgettable films, captivating theatre, entertaining radio plays and imaginative animations, year after year.

As always with the Zebbies, we're asking for scripts that were first screened, staged or broadcast in Ireland in the previous year (2025) or, first streamed or available to watch, by an Irish audience during 2025.

N.B. We're excited to be including two additional AWARDS this year; Best Irish Language Script and Best Debut Script!

You've got until midnight on FRIDAY 8TH MAY 2026 to submit.
And PLEASE read ALL Rules before you hit "Add to Cart & Checkout" - thank you!

Rules & Terms

N.B. IF YOU'VE SUBMITTED TO THE ZEBBIES BEFORE VIA FILM FREEWAY you need to add this year's entry as a NEW PROJECT to your own Film Freeway account first, then proceed to submit to the Zebbies 2026 Film Freeway account

1. The Zebbie Awards are open to all writers resident on the island of Ireland, or Irish writers living abroad.

2. To submit a script, you must be the writer(s) of the script. For producers or agents submitting on behalf of writers, you must have their permission.

3. All submitted scripts must have been FIRST broadcast, staged or screened in Ireland or FIRST streamed or available to watch by an Irish audience, between January 1st and December 31st 2025. [Or first premiered at a recognised Irish Film Festival during 2025]

4. Submitted scripts MUST BE IN PDF FORMAT - WORD DOCS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. The TITLE OF THE WORK and WRITER(S) NAME(S) should be on the COVER PAGE of the script - that's all. (your contact details will be included on the FilmFreeway portal).

5. Please supply a SHORT SYNOPSIS (between 40-50 words) of the piece you're submitting.

6. In the case of series, each individual writer (or co-writers) may submit one of the scripts they wrote in that series.

7. Submitted scripts do not have to be the final production draft, but the draft that the writer feels best represents their writing.

8. By submitting, you give permission to have your work published on the WGI website for voting purposes if shortlisted. If the copywright holder is not you, then from the Producer/Production company.

9. If you're not in a position to pay the €20 submission fee, please email us at zebbieawards@gmail.com to request a fee waiver, at least one week in advance of the submission deadline.

10. DEADLINE: All scripts to be submitted by midnight on FRIDAY 8TH MAY, 2026
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  • Sheena Lambert

    A wonderful awards ceremony - lots of fun and great for meeting other writers.

    April 2026
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Sheena, and we're delighted that you went home with some silverware too!!!!!